How your Car is Making It Harder to Buy Food

If you have been noticing that the price of food lately has been rising at a faster pace than usual than you are not alone. The price of milk, for example, has gone up nationally on average about 35% in the past year. Well, analysts say you can blame your car for it.
Traditionally farmers have used corn to feed their livestock but in the last few years there has been less of it available. The reason is that corn is now being harvested to produce E-85 ethenol in order to make fuel to power automobiles. As much as 30% of the nation's corn harvest is now going towards this purpose. This is forcing farmers to seek alternative feeds that are more expensive and they are passing the costs on to the consumer.
The corn that the nation's farmers would need to keep prices down could actually be imported from overseas but lobbyists for the corn industry in Washington have put pressure on politicians on capitol Hill to slap huge tarriffs on imported corn and thereby making it too expensive for farmers to go this route. Some Senators, such as Democrat Chuck Schumer from New York, are calling to have the tarriffs lifted in order to ease the economic strain on consumers.